Folate is an essential nutrient in humans and other animals. The human body uses folate to promote and restore cellular growth. Folate is especially important in aiding rapid cell division and growth, such as in infancy and pregnancy. Children and adults both require folate to produce healthy red blood cells and prevent anemia. In addition, low folate status has been associated with poor cognitive function.
Foods and supplements that are fortified with folate typically include the synthetic, oxidized folate compound folic acid due to its good stability under most food processing and storage conditions. In the human body, folic acid must be metabolized to provide a form of folate that is biologically active. One such biologically active folate is 5-MTHF, which is the predominant folate compound found in natural foods. Unlike folic acid, reduced folates such as 5-MTHF are generally susceptible to oxidation, which results in substantial losses when present in solution or when exposed to heat.